It is well known that when the frame of a vehicle is bent or otherwise not in correct alignment, the tires thereof wear excessively, the vehicle quite often does not tract properly, and even mechanical parts such as wheels, bearings, and the like can be adversely affected.
The development in recent years of integral frames and bodies allows automobiles to be built of much lighter construction which of course is fuel efficient, however, the strength of the formally used heavy frames with separate bodies has been sacrificed. It is not unusual today to find motor vehicles and particularly passenger cars with frames out of line. This can be caused not only by wrecks (which was formerly the main frame bender), but today can be caused by the hitting of potholes in the road, running over curbs, and similar relatively minor impacts.
Since only a slight out of alignment condition can cause tire wear and mechanical problems, it is desirable to frequently check frames for alignment and to correct any problems found. The main difficulty encountered by mechanics checking for possible faulty frame alignment is in determining whether there actually is a misalignment. Unless there is a bad misalignment, it is usually difficult or impossible to visually tell the condition of a frame.
The present means for aiding and checking and inspecting frames are antiquated, are complicated to use, are time consuming, and quite often are of questionable accuracy.
Also, when a frame is found to be bent it must of course be straightened. During the straightening process it must be checked several times until the exact desired alignment is obtained. Again this is a tedious laborious job and as mentioned before quite often is of questionable accuracy.
After much research and study into the above-mentioned problems the present invention has been developed to provide a simple, inexpensive and yet highly accurate frame alignment determining means.
The above is accomplished through the provision of an alignment indicator that clips onto part of the frame with an elongated alignment indicator finger outwardly extending to a point adjacent the end of the frame member. If the frame is in alignment, the end of the finger will point to a known location. Likewise, if the frame is bent this can be readily determined by the non-alignment of the tip of the indicator with the known location.
Also, during the straightening process, whether the correct alignment has been achieved can be readily determined. The present invention is simple in structure, easy to use, and highly accurate in results obtained.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, inexpensive and yet highly accurate alignment determining means.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment determining means which can be installed and removed in seconds thus allowing interim checking of the frame during the straightening process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment checking means which does not require adjustments or skilled knowledge to use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle frame alignment determining tool which is static in structure and yet highly accurate in use.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.